TROY, Ala., - Mississippi State is 3-0 to start the year for the first time since 1999.

But Saturday night's win was anything but pretty.

The Bulldogs dropped six passes including three would-be touchdowns and surrendered 572 yards of offense to Troy but still found a way to hold on for a 30-24 victory.

"I'm proud of our guys, they found a way to win the game," said MSU head coach Dan Mullen. "We made a lot of plays in the first half, we were kind of sloppy but we made plays. We didn't play every well in the second half but when we needed to make a play, we made them. But the story of the day is that we didn't play well on the defensive side of the ball at all. We're very fortunate to play as poorly as we did and come out of here with a win."

Hanging onto it was an entirely different story. Troy turned the ball over four times in the first half which led to 20 of the Bulldogs points.

MSU finished with 457 yards of offense with a balanced attack of 244 yards through the air and 213 on the ground.

"We put up 457 yards and dropped a ton of passes," Mullen said. "I'm disappointed in the offense in that we were 4-of-14 on third down. There's a lot of things we needed to teach but it feels great to teach them after a win."

Tyler Russell completed 11-of-26 passing for 224 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions on the evening.